Thursday, April 28, 2011

THE ROOSTER ABIDES

It's like Day 17 of Rooster Watch, and the Gift Rooster is still around. As one knowledgeable reader said in the comments, beware the gift rooster.

Rooster has not caused us any problems, and despite claims about the lack of intelligence of chickens, this Rooster is smart enough to know that my quiet bird dogs will pounce on him if he comes into our yard. One example of that and he learned his lesson.

Several of the folks I work with could be described as "farm people" or "country people" who have far greater experience with Roosters than I. They all warn about mean Roosters, and indeed, several of the ladies I work with in this group have volunteered to come dispatch the Rooster if necessary. I've politely declined their offer, simply because he's stayed out of our yard after the one lunchtime incident several weeks ago where the dogs nearly got him. Besides, he adds color to the neighborhood and I find his presence interesting.

He's ranging now around the house for several blocks. Usually I've been hearing him several blocks away, and by the time I leave for work he's usually in my neighbor's backyard under the shade tree for the heat of the day. Several of the outdoor cats kept by neighbors have made attempts to stalk the Rooster when he's in a neighboring backyard, and I'm happy to report that the cats all give up their hunting quest when they get close and realize this Rooster is rather large.

Which is funny because the neighbor across the street does have a chicken coop with hens inside, and you would think he would be hanging around there. We found out he lives about a half-mile away and his owner has little to no interest in fetching him home. So my neighbor has kept her hens in the coop and her Rooster appears to be unaffected by the Gift Rooster's presence and roaming around.

Although his morning and afternoon crowing tends to come about 3 or 4 times a minute for several hour sessions, I still find it comforting and it reminds me of younger days spending summers at my grandmother's farm in East Texas, where of course she raised chickens and hogs and cattle.

Trying to remember some of my sweet grandmother's advisories to me so many years ago, I can remember her talking about "a mean rooster" but memory fails after that. I can recall that although I was frequently dispatched to grab a hen and either bring her to my grandmother for cooking or just to relocate them, I surely can't recall ever grabbing a rooster, and having seen some results of rooster fighting over the years, it looks like that's a good decision.

So for now, it appears we have a neighborhood Rooster. The Rooster Abides.